Arch-support shoe



- side of the shoe,

Patented June 17,

UNI D STA TESL. PATEM" F CA JOHN L. PUTZEL, or BALTIMORE, MARYL ND Application filed. September 12, 1927.

The object of this invention is toprovide. an efficient and well-placed rigid arch sup-' Anon-sorrow snon I port, especlally for high-heeled shoes, so

designedas to adequatelysustain thearch 5 of-the. foot of the wearer.

The invention consists of an arch support ing; shoe shank piece or stiffener, of rigid metal, shaped longitudinally and transversely so as to sustaln corresponding pressures ofa wearers foot an heel to a point forwa d extending from the rd in the shoe corresponding substantially with the hollow of the foot, and secured at both points, and cushioned at its forwardportion, as I will proceed now more f finally claim.

In the accompanying ully to explain and drawings illustrating theinvention, 1n the several figures of -which like parts are Figure 1 is a bottom with the heel and outer is a side elevation o similarly designated, plan View of a shoe, sole omitted; Fig. 2 shoe partly in section.

Fig. 3 is a top perspective view of the shank piece or stifiener. View of the cushion.

Fig. 4 is a perspective Fig. 5 1s a cross-section of the shank, detached, taken on line 55 of Fig. ,8.

- The upper 1, insole 2, welt 3, sole 1, filling 5 andheel 6 may be of any usual or approved construction, excepting that at the arch or hollow of the shoe the parts may be drawn ,in from about? to formation snugly and fullness or wrinkling.

7, to fit the foot conwithout liability to The rigid shank piece or stiffener,see for details Fig. 3-compri having the tack-receiving the heel portion 8, holes provided with the burrs 9, which by entering the insole aid in securingthat end piece or stiffener in arched portion 10, forcing rib 11, and

of the shank place; the elongated provided with the reinthe laterally extending end 12, having the horn 13 curved inwardly V to conform to the curvature of the inner tent than the horn and the horn 1 1 of less ex- 13 and curved to conform to the outer side of the shoe, each horn beingprovided with'a tack-hole having its inner edge burred, as at 15 and 16, respectively, so

as to enter the materia l of the sole and assist the tacks in -hol stiffener in. place; vlded with a prong material of the so The shank piece or Serial No 218,964.

ding the shank: piece or and an opening 17, pro- 18 which also enters the curvedlengthwisebutalso crosswise, so to conform to the foot curvature to whichv the SllOGlS fitted, and 1tsrib111s located on come up higher may 'on' the inside arch, thus throwing the weight of the wearer more to stiffener is not. only I the outside and not directly in the middle, i and thereby the shank piece or stiffener the outside and permitting the bringing of- I the inside close to The shankpieceor stiffener is made,

of sheet steeh died and pressed to erably, shape and harden make it rigid. Itissomolde as to come up hi shoe than 'oirthe form to the arch of the break line same, and thereby back of the metatarsal heads or:

of the foot joints and not. un the foot and sho the inside arch of the foot.

prefed to a sufficient degree to:

d or pressed gher on the inside of the outside, :in order "to conof the foot ofthe wearer and the last onwhichthe shoe is made. The shank piece or stiffener extends back or ball and notunder the tends to keep the support der them, thus permitting e to flex freely; it. being understood that thesecond', third and fourth metatarsal headsv bearing areas;

A pad, 19, of

or joints are not weightrubber or other yielding material, is arranged on the insole so as toserve as a cushion for the froward end of the sliankpiece or stiffener, and this cushion is of a contour,

breadth and length and ofv substantially conoidal transverse section, so

as to underlieth arch portion and as shown in F gs.

e. forward portion of @the. extend beyond theiend; 12, 1 and 4. r

The: provision ofjthe cut-out 17 and the use of the speciall or cuslnon admit springv metatars normal metatarsal insole coming up.

y constructed s alsupport which allows arch functioningf The higher on the'inside furyielding pad nishes more support to the inner longitudinal archthan prior arch support shoes of usual construction so far as I am aware.

supportis carried This forward to a point directly I of the production or a y behind the location of the great toe joint, and thus will tend to restorethe normal posture in standing and walking; that is, the foot straight forward toeing in slightly. In addition tothis, through the described construction and the shape of the shank piece or stiffener, the outer longitudinal arch gets a similar support. The insole being flexible and wider than the outsole, shapes itself to the contour of the foot when the shoe is fastened. The insole 2 is wider on the inside of the shoe than the outer sole 4, for the purpose of acting as an additional inner-support for the inner longitudinal arch of the foot, and it is held in place by the shank piece-or stiffener, which, as stated, is molded or pressed higher on the inside, for this and other purposes. These features contribute to making an anatomically correctflshoe.

When the shank piece orstitfenerand the cushion are arranged as shown in Figs. 1 and2, the shank piece or stiffener is secured in position by nailing, the, burrs and the prong l8 sinkinginto the adjacent material and thereby assisting the tacks in holding the shank piece or stiffener in position.

It will be understood, of course, that the shank pieces or 'stiifenersare made as rights and lefts to accomo'date shoes of'that char-V.

acter. V e

As will be seen the edges-of the cushion are bevelled so that the cushion m'ay5be cemented and held in place on the bottom of the insole.

By the construction described the arch of high heel shoes particularly, may be :adequately supported so as to increase the comfort of thewearer, and this is equally true of low heel shoes. v

i As already stated, the co'nstructionpermits of drawing the upper inwardly to ensure the fit of the shoe and prevent wrinkling or undesirable fullness in thear'ch.

Variations in details of construction are permissible within the principle of the invention and the claims following,

\Vhat I claim is 1. An arch support shoe, provided; with a shank piece or stiffener of rigid material curved longitudinally and transversely to conform to the arch'of the shoe and extending from the forward portion of the heel of the shoe to the break line of the shoe ant provided at its forward end with laterally extending horns, the forwardportionhaving an opening, and acus'hion underlying said opening and the forward end of the shank piece or stiffener.

"2. An-archsupport shoe, provided witha shank piece or "stiffener of rigid material curved longitudinally and transversely to conform to the arch of the shoe'and extending from the forward portion of'the heel of the shoe to the break line of the shoe and provided at its forward-end with laterally vided at its forward endwith laterally extending horns and'an opening between said horns, and a longitudinal rib interposed be tween the heel portion and the forward portion and toward the outerside of the longitudinal center of the sh'ank'piece or stiffener, said shank piece or stiffener coming up higher onv the inside of the arch than on the outside;

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 10th 'day of September, A. D.

JOHN, L. PUTZEL. 

